The Psychology of GOP voters: Pathologically Fantasy Prone People.

(updated/revised from this Sept. 29, 2016 essay)

In 2016, tens of millions of fellow American voted for someone who is: a) a vile, deranged moron, b) a racist, misogynistic, homophobic, religious bigot; c) a corrupt lying criminal; d) an utter fraud, e) also truly creepy. All wrapped in one nauseating package.

In 2020, the same vile deranged moron received even more votes, and in their efforts to overthrow our democracy, the fascist crowd have embraced ‘The Big Lie’ of the theft of the election by nefarious powers embodied by the Democratic party and its Woke mob henchlings.

Who does this?

We might even say that GOP voters seem to be living on a different planet, in a different reality. How can they not see the absurdly obvious falsehoods? How can they be so impervious to empirical evidence? 

It turns out, it’s simply who they are:

Results confirm that conservatives have lower sensitivity than liberals, performing worse at distinguishing truths and falsehoods. This is partially explained by the fact that the most widely shared falsehoods tend to promote conservative positions, while corresponding truths typically favor liberals.

I was prompted to think about the link between pathologically fantasy prone people and Trump supporters by this excellent article by Kari Halloway at Alternet, looking at  research into the psychological characteristics of on-line Trolls:

The question for non-trolls is, behind the layer of protective anonymity, what lies at the core of the troll psyche. The findings of a few studies suggest that trolls who are mean-spirited and manipulative online have offline personalities to match, and that insecurity drives a fair amount of their trollery.

Case in point are two 2014 studies from Canada’s University of Manitoba that looked at the personalities of some 1,200 people who engage in trolling, which the researchers described as “behaving in a deceptive, destructive, or disruptive manner in a social setting on the internet” for seemingly no purpose at all. (The trolls would likely say they do it for the "lulz,” or laughs that come at another person’s expense.)

These characteristics are perhaps most evident in the alt-right, but the notion of adopting an alternate identity to express sadistic feelings certainly is part of the appeal to join the Klu Klux Klan or neo-Nazi groups:

Both studies revealed similar patterns of relations between trolling and the Dark Tetrad of personality: trolling correlated positively with sadism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism,” the researchers wrote. In other words, those who took part in trolling generally enjoyed watching others suffer, were pathologically self-absorbed and lacked “conscience and empathy”.

 Now consider attendees at a Trump rally, when the targets of their animosity are outnumbered, or absent, and their tweets filled with hate and fear-mongering, but most importantly, their receptiveness to bizarre conspiracy theories.

I think GOP voters-- given to conspiracy theories, dismissive of science, disregarding documentation that contradicts their beliefs- do live in a different reality.

That reality get’s reinforced by those they interact with, and where they get their news, but it is nevertheless a self-constructed world. In that world, they get to make the rules for what is real, what is not, what is evidence, etc.:

Scientific theories, by definition, must be falsifiable. That is, they must make reliable predictions about the world; and if those predictions turn out to be incorrect, the theory can be declared false. Conspiracy theories, on the other hand, are tough to disprove. Their proponents can make the theories increasingly elaborate to accommodate new observations; and, ultimately, any information contradicting a conspiracy theory can be answered with, “Well sure, that’s what they want you to think.”

Despite their unfalsifiable nature, conspiracy theories attract significant followings. Not all theorists, it seems, hold their “truths” to the standards of conventional science.

I grew up loving science fiction. I would read every Issac Asimov book I could get my hands on. I played Dungeons and Dragons for hours every weekend. If I wasn’t reading comic book, I was imaging myself as one of the characters. I’m someone who has always enjoyed escapist fantasy, especially when I wasn’t feeling all that good about myself or my situation.

While we all daydream and fantasize, if we’re reasonably psychologically healthy and cognitively intact, we are able to distinguish our fantasy life from reality. Not everyone is able to make this distinction consistently:

the totality of the research indicates that there is this broad clinical entity known as the fantasy-prone personality type, which is likely comprised of various psychological and neurological conditions that result in heightened fantasizing and/or an impaired ability to distinguish internal fantasy from external reality. Research indicates that this subset of humanity is disproportionately responsible for a large number of reported paranormal experiences, including ghosts, angels, aliens, abductions, out of body experiences, near death experiences, reincarnation, and others.

A more detailed description of the pathological fantasy prone personality is found here:

A fantasy prone person is reported to spend a large portion of their time fantasizing, have vividly intense fantasies, have paranormal experiences, and have intensereligious experiences.[5] People with FPP are reported to spend over half of their time awake fantasizing or daydreaming and will often confuse or mix their fantasies with their real memories. They also report out-of-body experiences.[5]

A paracosm is an extremely detailed and structured fantasy world often created by extreme or compulsive fantasizers.[6]

GOP voters are acting out in reality- but behind the anonymity of the crowd or the internet— their fantasies of righteous triumph over evil:

Thus, conspiracy theories offer a further dimension interesting from a psychological standpoint. They offer the possibility to transfer one's value system into the social domain: According to Mason (1997), the moral self must learn to discern the values held by other persons and institutions; and should encourage others to act morally. Fivush and Buckner (1997) argue that language is not only a medium, but is both necessary to construct a self-concept and to engage in moral-based interaction with others. From this point of view, making stories that describe the ethics of institutions as well as one's own is not a possibility, but a necessity in moral development. Also, sharing these narratives is desirable.

A conspiracy theory, thus, could be seen as a differentiated story of our beliefs and values helping us to understand and express our non-conscious moral feelings. Historic or contemporary events and developments which threaten these values may become the initial nucleus for such a story. The need to construct such a story arises from living in a society where the generally acknowledged goal of individuation is no longer a mere adoption of common beliefs, but where becoming individual is the preferred goal.

Who is susceptible to a fascist cult and its vile, deranged moronic figurehead? 

Someone who perceives “historic or contemporary events and developments which threaten their values”, and so feels to need to construct a preferred identity, a more positive sense of self— based on power over others— within a fantasy they have blurred with reality.